


In My Reality

by Tearfeather



Series: Paper Prophecy [2]
Category: Dominion (TV)
Genre: Alternate Universe - Canon Divergence, F/M, Friendship/Love, Hurt/Comfort, POV Alternating, Prophetic Dreams, Survival, Visions in dreams
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2018-09-16
Updated: 2018-10-21
Packaged: 2019-07-12 20:52:40
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 6
Words: 11,171
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/16003094
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Tearfeather/pseuds/Tearfeather
Summary: Now that my dreams have become reality, can I survive? I've done so well on my own, until Michael showed up anyway. There is a war in my heart and head on what I should do, and someone keeps using my body against me. Is this my punishment?





	1. Chapter 1

_Mickie’s POV_

I wasn’t sure what was going to happen now. I hadn’t spoken to Michael in three days since I woke up. I didn’t have anything to say. We had moved on from where I was camped out. We went back to the apartment. Everything was just as I had left it, minus the letter which Michael had taken. I really wanted to be happier than I was. I lost my friend, my home, and my dogs. I had gained an arch angel but was that a win or a loss? Sometimes I wondered. Michael wasn’t talkative either. 

I slept a lot. I didn’t want to get up and do anything at all. I just wanted the world to be normal. This was not how the world should be. I knew I would have to get up and face the world. I mean, I didn’t have to but what good was I going to be if I just died here? On the morning of the fourth morning, I pushed myself out of bed. I needed to do more than die in bed. I showered and cleaned up. I trimmed my hair and braided it. I hadn’t even heard Michael around the apartment. Then again, there was several that were livable in this building. 

I changed clothing and was as ready for the day as I could be. I wanted to say I was fully ready to face the world, but I wasn’t. I really was just fooling myself, but I had to start somewhere. I left my room and looking around for Michael. I should apologize to him for not being much of a host recently. I hoped he was able to find whatever he needed at the time. I searched the primary areas and I couldn’t find him. It didn’t even look like he was still around. Had he left? 

When I had finished searching the apartment, I looked in the only other one I could see that was possibly being used. Michael wasn’t there either. I gave up for the moment. I found something to eat and went outside. Snack eaten by the time I made it outside, I sighed. It was an enjoyable day at least. I took a deep breath and let it out. I couldn’t dwell on the past. It wasn’t going to help me in the present. I walked around the building, habit perhaps, to see if anything was going on. As I did, I found Michael and some travelers from the Camp. They didn’t look happy. 

“What are you doing here? If you have hurt her I swear…” Michael said nothing to the angry comment. 

“What if he didn’t? We know she doesn’t live here.” Another spoke up, female this time. The man spoke again. 

“Her place was destroyed. Maybe he did it. Her dogs were gone too. You saw the graves.” He cocked back the hammer on his gun which was leveled at Michael’s chest. 

“Stop!” I called, running over to the group. Three heads turned to look at me. “Put the gun down. He’s with me.” Michael said nothing, just looking at me with some curiosity. 

“Are you sure you are alright? We saw your last place.” The man said, looking at Michael from the corner of his eye, gun still raised. 

“Yes I am. He’s my husband.” I blurt out, not sure if that would help or not. In this world, rings didn’t matter nor, would you find some at times. I’d seen it before. At my comment, Michael’s eyes widened and the other two looked at me with surprise. “Lower the gun Mitch.” I said again, finally recognizing who was in front of me. Stacie wasn’t sure what was going on, but she nodded. 

“Lower it Mitch. She’s not lying. You know her. She wouldn’t do that to protect someone. She’s independent.” Thanks Stacie. I was lucky my blush wasn’t called. I came to stand by Michael, sliding my hand calmly into his own. He curled his fingers around mine like it was natural. 

“Our place was destroyed yes. We had some angels come upon us in the night. They killed Blue and Beauty.” I said, the words thick on my mouth as I spoke them. Michael’s hand left mine as he curled his arm around my shoulders, pulling me against his side. “It happened two days ago. We weren’t sure where else to go. I was thinking about finding The Camp again. Do you think we could join up again?” I asked, tentatively curling my arm around Michael’s waist. I hadn’t spoken to the arch angel in 3 days and then this happens. Oh, I hope he didn’t kill me. 

Mitch and Stacie looked at each other before having a conversation. They were the ones who did a lot of the scouting and trading with others. It was good for me because I was friends with them both. It was also bad because I wasn’t sure if anyone else would buy that I was married now to a man no one had even seen or heard me speak of. Not that I needed to tell them of my love life but…

“Yes.” Stacie said with a smile. “Collect whatever you need, and we’ll take you back.” I nodded and tugged lightly on Michael’s hand as I turned. 

“We will be right back.” Once we were back in the building, and I knew they couldn’t hear us, I spoke up. “I’m so sorry Michael. I didn’t know what else to do. I should have said something all this time and – “He cut me off with a kiss. I just stood there like an idiot. My brain stopped working for a moment. He drew back and looked at me, a hand cupping my cheek lightly. 

“Why did you kiss me?”

“If we are to act as if married, an awkward first kiss would not do to hold to your story.” I nodded and shook my head a little. 

“Yeah. I’m still sorry about all this. You can’t be an arch angel around these people. They will try to kill you and will very likely kill me. You need to just be a moral man right now. We can leave later but for now, The Camp is the best place for us, well, for me anyway.” I wasn’t sure what else to do. Michael nodded, saying nothing more for now about that topic. Instead, he did mention we should pack up and get moving. We did quickly. 

The trip to The Camp wasn’t much of anything. It was short and by the time we got there, Michael and I had worked out a cover for us. Michael was human in appearance, though there were some things he did that wasn’t something a human would do. Hopefully, he would keep his wings under wraps. That would be the biggest thing to get us in trouble. It was also possible that things would change, and we could leave sooner than I would think. Honestly, I don’t know why he was still with me. He could have left. Lost in my thoughts, I didn’t realize that we arrived until Michael placed his hand on my shoulder. 

“We are here.” He said softly, his hand dropping from my shoulder to take my hand. I nodded, curling my fingers around his hand. It had to look real, even though it wasn’t real. This was just for survival. Me being back in The Camp was like a homecoming which was strange to me. Apparently, they had missed me and my parents. I told them of their deaths when it happened and now it was oh hey I’m married. I wondered if that would be strange. 

We were given a place to stay as some people had just left themselves. It was fine and like before, we would have to work for it. Michael would help with scouting as I did before. I would do that as well. It wasn’t likely they would allow us out together, but I was pleasantly surprised that they said we would be a better team together, since we were married. This hadn’t happened before. I was still an anomaly to them and they assumed, just by looking at Michael, that he was just like me in that area. I let them believe whatever they wanted to. That was fine. It was better they think he was strange because of being around me than being strange on his own. 

That night, I lay awake on the bed, staring at the ceiling. Michael was lying next to me, his back to me. I knew he wasn’t asleep though. He was still too stiff to be asleep. I rolled over and reached a hand out to touch him. My hand hovered inches from his back. He wasn’t wearing a shirt and I was hesitating to touch him. I closed the space and placed my hand against his back. I felt the muscles tense briefly then ease back as he turned to look at me. I moved my hand, though I continued to leave my hand against his arm now. We said nothing for several pregnant moments before I spoke up. 

“Thank you for playing along with this. I still don’t know why you are staying with me. You could have left at any time you wanted. You stayed when I had my episode and you stayed when I refused to talk.” I sighed, dropping my head to his shoulder, looking at the bed. “I just feel like I messed up and you are just taking pity on me.” Michael moved slowly and placed a hand on my head, moving it to tilt my head up towards him. I looked at him, not sure what to say. 

“I am not taking pity on you.” He said softly. I still wondered. “I want to be here, and I want to help you. Something is wrong about the voice that has attached to you.” I knew what he was talking about. I hadn’t said anything, but I knew what happened and the conversation. I still didn’t know who it was, but it felt like this voice, this person in my head, knew Michael. His fingers tightened a little against my face and he drew me close. I knew Michael was a lady’s man and I didn’t want to be a notch in his belt, but at the same time, I didn’t mind. Maybe I didn’t want to be _just_ a notch in his belt. I wanted to be more. I couldn’t hope for it though. We shared another kiss, though it wasn’t as shocking as the first one. I was able to see this one coming and enjoy it much more than the last one. I was more of a dead fish last time. We were only pretending to be married. I broke away from the kiss and laid back down. 

“Get some sleep.” I rolled away from him, warring with my own feelings. This would be so rough, and I couldn’t help but wonder if this was a punishment. Was I a problem? I didn’t have much time to wonder as Michael moved and pulled me back against his chest. I closed my eyes, trying not to resist this. I wanted it with ever fiber of my being, but I knew this shouldn’t be happening. I couldn’t even begin to guess what was going on in his mind. If anything, else happened, would I have the strength to say no? Would I want to say no?

I didn’t know that answer.


	2. Chapter 2

I jerked awake out of a dead sleep. I was still in my old apartment. Was that all a dream? A vision? I really wondered what I had just witnessed. Brushing a hand over my face, I knew I needed to get up and move on. I couldn’t stay here in bed. I got up, showered and was ready for the day. Michael wasn’t anywhere to be found. I should apologize for being quiet. As I opened the front door, Michael stood there, Stacy and Mitch standing behind him. This wasn’t like the vision. 

“They wanted to see you.” Michael said, stepping past me and into the apartment. I blinked and stepped back. 

“What are you two doing here?”

“We went to your place in that basement. It looked like you were killed. Is everything ok?” Stacy asked, stepping closer to me. We had been friends. I guess we still were friends. I nodded. Mitch came closer as well. 

“Mickie, who is that guy? He wouldn’t say much, only that you were here and you both were together.” I looked over at Michael. He was giving us space but still very present. 

“He’s my friend.” I said, watching his reaction. There was none. Good. I looked back to my friends and a stabbing pain caught me off guard. I winced, reaching my hand out for something. A hand grabbed my own and I thought it was Stacy as she was closer to me. When I looked at my hand, it was Michael who was at my side. I hadn’t even heard him move. I said nothing as I looked at him. I tried to recover but it was harder than it had been in the past. 

When I pulled myself together, which took several minutes, I still felt sick. Maybe it was for the best. I had changed whatever dream I had to be something else. Michael remained at my side as I packed my things. We decided to go to The Camp and stay there. Michael was considered my boyfriend, even if I didn’t say that. We didn’t argue. If that was what Stacy and Mitch wanted to believe, so be it. The trip there was slower than in my dream. I wondered why. It had been sometime since I traveled there. I felt horrible the more we traveled. I was sure I was getting sick. It wasn’t unheard of.   
By the time we got there, I knew I was in fact sick. I ached all over, had no energy and just wanted to sleep. I wasn’t sure when it happened, but I found myself in Michael’s arms being carried. I looked up at him, confused for a moment. He said nothing to me, but I heard him talking to someone else. Stacy came into my line of sight for a moment and then she was gone. I closed my eyes, just wanting to sleep. 

I woke up in the middle of the night. Everything was black around me. I sat up slowly, feeling a little chilled when the blankets fell away from me. I felt more than saw movement on my left. A voice spoke up from the darkness. 

“How are you feeling?” It was Michael. I blinked a few times, though I knew I wouldn’t see him in the darkness. 

“Cold. What happened?”

“You got sick.” I wanted to roll my eyes. That was obvious to me and I wasn’t even feeling well. Before I could give a comment back, he continued. “Stacy thinks you have become sick because of the stress. She suggested you rest and that I stay with you.” Of course, she did. ‘Boyfriend’ and all. 

“Thanks, but you don’t have to.” I doubted he could get sick from me. I mean, he was an arch angel for crying out loud. I felt him move once more. That meant we were sharing a bed. Surprisingly, I didn’t mind. I felt his hand on my shoulder, though there was a hesitation before he touched me. I looked in that direction. 

“You said I was a friend. Why?” He asked. I could hear the confusion in his voice. I sighed. 

“It was easier than trying to explain you are an arch angel. The Camp does not like angels and will kill them all, friend or foe, on sight. You can’t be seen as an angel. As much damage as angels have done, not all of them are bad. I believe there are some who do want to help, and you are one of them.” I couldn’t read his expression in the darkness. Maybe it was better that way. 

“Thank you.” He said, before I felt the bed dip and his weight leave. The footsteps down the hall suggested he was leaving. I swung my legs over the side of the bed and was ready to get up myself. I passed a hand over my face and pushed off the bed. I stood, though the world spun a little. I waited for a moment, eyes closed, and I knew I was swaying. A hand came to rest on my arm and a cup of water was pushed into my hand. 

“Drink this.” I nodded to Michael as I took the glass. I sipped the water. 

“Thanks.”

“You are welcome. Are you hungry?” He asked, his hand not leaving my arm. I nodded once more. He guided me from the room, turning on a light along the way. We were in a little trailer. I wondered if this was the one my family lived in. I sat down at the table while Michael fixed whatever he was going to. I reached under the table and felt around. I smiled. It was the same one. I had carved my name under the table and it was still there. Michael came back a moment later with some toast. It wasn’t much but I was grateful for it. I was hungrier than I thought I was, but at the same time, I was glad I didn’t have anything heavy to eat. Even the toast made my stomach turn a little. After I ate, I drank the rest of my water. It was nice to have some thing in my stomach. I went to bed after that and was instantly asleep. 

I woke up the next morning somewhere around noon. I felt much better, but I wasn’t sure what to expect today. Michael was still around as I heard him in the kitchen. I got up, changed, and went to see what he was doing. He was making coffee. I doubted he was going to drink it himself, but then again, I didn’t know the habits of this man either. If we were to be boyfriend and girlfriend, even pretend, we could have to know more about each other.

“Afternoon.” I said with a smile. He looked up. 

“Feeling better?” I nodded, leaning against the counter with my hip. 

“Yes. Thanks. I think it might have been stress. Thanks for looking after me last night.”

“Of course. Your friends came by this morning to check on you.” I was a little surprised they would come by so soon to check on me. Then I was curious how out of it I was. He seemed to know that I was considering this option as he spoke. “You were asleep for 18 hours.” 

“18 hours?!” I said, unable to believe that. Then again, stress does that to be people. My father suffered from it. I sighed once more. Shaking my head, I smiled a little. “Well thanks for looking after me then. I appreciate it.” I didn’t want to know why he did it, but it was still nice he did. He seemed more confident and like the arch angel I saw in my visions. Maybe this was a way for him to learn about himself again. 

“I hope you don’t mind that they think we are together.” He shook his head, though it was subtle. “I didn’t say we were.” Michael knew this. He was there. Why was I repeating myself? Nervousness maybe.

“It is alright Mickie. I’m not concerned with what they think we are or what we are not. Are you comfortable?” He asked. This was when it was clear he wasn’t human. The way he built those sentences and the lack of expression on his face.

“I don’t mind. Just, keep in mind Michael that people speak and act a little more relaxed. I don’t want them to suspect anything. We can leave soon and get out of here. I don’t even know why I thought this was a promising idea to come with them.” Michael came over with a cup of coffee and some more toast for me. It was light enough that it settled well, and I knew I wouldn’t be sick. I would have to set things right. We were just friends. Well, were we? I wasn’t even sure. I knew Michael for years, but he had only known me a handful of days. We had only met a few days ago. This whole thing was a mess. A knock on the door drew our attention from the moment. Stacy came in a moment later. 

“Hello! I was hoping you would be awake now. You are so lucky your boyfriend was here. He has been very dotting on you.” I opened my mouth to deny what she was saying but she continued to speak. “Anyway, I came by to say that you and your boyfriend as welcome to stay. If you can, when you are better, you are welcome to return to your duty of scouting like you did before. Brian still says you are the best of the best and would have you back. Michael is welcome to join you. We had some tough times recently.” Stacy’s face fell as she was speaking but then she smiled. “Feel better. Mitch will be around soon with some supplies. Brian doesn’t think you’ll want to be up and wandering around much.” 

“Thanks Stacy. We appreciate it.” I commented, choosing not to worry about the rumor. That was fine. 

“I don’t want to interrupt any more of your private time. Get rest and feel better.” She winked at me with a smile. 

“No, no, we aren’t… I mean we haven’t…” Stacy laughed. 

“It’s fine. I know you probably don’t want to get Michael sick. It’s ok. I understand.”

“Stacy!” I protested. Michael finally spoke up. 

“That is not an issue. Whether she is sick or not, I don’t mind showing and sharing affection with her.” Michael’s hand came to rest on my own. I wasn’t sure what to make of this, but my blush was real. I turned my hand over and linked our fingers together. 

“So adorable. Anyway! I’m leaving.” Stacy shut the door behind her as she left.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Phew. Wasn't sure this was going to be done today. Have a wonderful week!


	3. Chapter 3

Death might have been a blessing. Stacy was a sweetheart, but she was a gossip. I had no doubt she would tell everyone how cute we were and how lucky I was or something like that. I gave up. In the end, did it really matter? Michael and I knew what the truth was. We shouldn’t be worrying about it. As long as we didn’t tip anyone off to our odd relationship, or that Michael was arch angel, we should be golden. Hopefully, I would be up and about tomorrow, and we could pull our weight for a time and then leave. 

Days passed, and it was like being home. I sort of forgot that we should have been trying to leave. The children had grown up a little, and I was glad to see old friends. They were all happy I was back and going to be their scout again. I didn’t realize I had left them with such a problem. I did some missions, only small ones around the area, and Michael tagged along. No one questioned it. He got a quick reputation of being quiet, which suited him just fine. 

“We can leave soon. In a few days, I’ll tell them we want to move on and see what happens. I don’t know if they will like it, but I don’t think it’s a good idea to stay here.” I said while I was cooking dinner. It wasn’t much, just some chicken, rice, and veggies. I was also making enough for our neighbor, which was a kind older gentleman who recently lost his wife before we came.   
“Why? You are in your element and are happy here.” Michael responded, coming to stand next to me. He had just cleaned up and was without a shirt. He was holding it in his hand though. I looked over at him and sighed.

“I lived here for years. I should have come back sooner. I didn’t and now if we stay here, there is always a risk to them finding out who you are.” If there wasn’t such a strong prejudice, I wouldn’t care if we stayed. Why was I even worried about Michael? He could make his own choices. He walked over to my side and I could feel his body heat. I looked up at him. Before we could say anything else, our front door opened. Stacy was back again with her ‘wonderful’ timing. She smiled brightly at us, her cheeks turning a light pink. 

“Sorry! I didn’t mean to interrupt anything.” Michael didn’t move, and I cleared my throat. 

“What’s up Stacy? I’m almost done with Steve’s dinner.” I quickly finished up, but I had to reach past Michael to get the container. When he still didn’t move, I reached around him. I felt my cheeks turn pink as I had no choice but to lean against him to get it. Why he just didn’t move I don’t know. I filled the container and handed it to Stacy, who was not getting any closer.  
“Thanks Mickie. I … will be going.” Stacy all but slammed the door behind her. I leaned on the counter a moment before I turned around. 

“Why didn’t you mo – “I found myself face to face with Michael as he kissed me. I was so surprised I didn’t even respond to it. I just blinked at him as he moved back. There was little expression on his face, though his hand came up to cup my cheek.

“Why?” I managed to get out. 

“I didn’t want to move. I am fond of you.” Michael’s response was simple and to the point. I didn’t have any answer. I just nodded and looked away. I blinked a few times to get myself out of this feeling. It wouldn’t matter. He was an arch angel. I shouldn’t get my hopes up he could care about a human. I smiled. 

“Dinner is ready. Let’s eat.” We didn’t talk about it anymore after that. I never gave any answer on whether or not I cared for him, though I did. my actions spoke louder than words could, and I suspected he knew that. 

Michael didn’t bring it up again either. I was a little surprised, but at the same time, not. It was an odd place to be. Either way, I had to clear my mind. We had to go out on a scouting mission today. We would be gone three days. I dried some fruit and meat that we would take with us. There was four of us total going on this mission. Myself, Michael, Mitch, and Jenny. Michael was the ‘new’ one going so to speak but I had no doubt he would be just fine. He could probably go and scout and come back all in the same day since he could fly. We took a car, but it was still a long time there and back. 

It was a small town we were exploring to the south. There was honestly nothing to be worried about. Well, mostly nothing to worry about. We didn’t see any other actual people, though we saw some lower angels. I looked at Michael, who met my gaze. Hopefully the 8-balls wouldn’t say anything about Michael. When we engaged them, Michael flanked them, so they couldn’t see him coming. It was a clever idea and it prevented them from identifying him. His battle prowess was amazing in person. I had ‘seen’ it before of course, but not really in person enough to appreciate it. I smiled when all was said and done. He looked at me and smiled a little. I shook it off quickly. We had to focus. 

The supplies we found were needed though we hoped to find the pharmacy. It was on the other side of town. I went with Jenny while Michael and Mitch looked through a store nearby. I remembered Jenny from before. She didn’t like me much and really hated that I came in and was so much better than she was at scouting. I hoped that feud was over.   
“You got lucky.” She said out of nowhere as we searched the building. I looked up from the counter I was behind. 

“What?”

“You leave and when you come back years later, you have your boyfriend. Who does that? You weren’t even that social when you were here with your parents. How did you ever meet him?” She sounded jealous. 

“Vega.” Not a total lie after all. I had seen him there, in person anyway. I wasn’t going to explain the whole vision thing. That never went well when I tried with others before hooking up with the Camp.   
“Figures.” She murmured, shoving some things in her pack. I cleaned out the back of the pharmacy. There were some good things back there in the cabinets and a locked drawer. I was satisfied with our haul. I went to leave the building and Jenny stopped me. I looked at her, curious why she was still all upset over some stupid feud she thought we had. 

“We should go.” I said, trying to pass her once more. She didn’t look like she as going to let me move on until she felt like we had ended whatever this was. A long stretch of seconds passed, and she finally moved. We went back to the others. Mitch had found a hand-written map that showed there was some supplies hidden away in a shed across the river. It looked like it was only accessible by a bridge. I hated bridges. Michael suggested we go, since we were in the area anyway.

It didn’t take long to follow the map and find the location. I felt my stomach drop when I did see the bridge. It was rickety and likely to fall apart at any moment. Jenny and I were the lightest. I knew Michael was a lot heavier than he looked because of his wings that no one knew he had. I offered to go across, only because Jenny looked about ready to cry. She had a horrible fear of heights and the river below the bridge was really far down. I didn’t think it would kill a person if they fell but I didn’t want to test it either. I closed my eyes and started across the bridge. Michael was standing at the end of the it with Mitch. They were bracing the bridge just in case it started to go. They couldn’t do anything about the old planks though.

I refused to look down. I locked my eyes on the shed ahead of me. I wished I could have just had Michael fly over there, but I couldn’t. We couldn’t afford that to happen. Steeling myself, I made it across. The door was locked, and I struggled to get it open. When I finally did kick it down, I fell into the building. A face full of dust and dirt was fun. I coughed but yelled back I was alright. I picked myself up and got to searching. I found duffel bag full of clothing, food, and medicine. It was a huge score for us. There was also an unexpected find in there. 

“Hello there.” A small calico cat was hiding in the back of the shed. There was a hole it was clearly using to get in and out of. When I started talking to the creature, the cat walked right over to me. It nuzzled my hand and leg. I picked it up and found quickly it was a female. I smiled. I shouldn’t take the cat. I didn’t need another animal. I gave her some pets and set her down once more. I opened a can of food for her and headed for the door, bringing the bag with me. Much to my surprise, she chased after me. I looked down at her in the sun light. She was dirty and probably small for her size, but she was beautiful.   
“Can you ever not find an animal to love you?” Mitch called from the other side of the bridge. I could hear the humor in his voice. 

“She was in a corner. I didn’t try to find her.” I looked back down to her as she climbed my leg. “I guess you are coming with me.” I picked her up and tucked her into my jacket for now. She settled happily against my chest. Thankfully, my jacket was more formfitting, so she couldn’t fall out. I started across the bridge. 

“Ok little one. We’ll make it.” I said to the cat. She purred happily. I smiled. She was calming me down which was amusing. How did I always end up with animals like this? I was halfway across the bridge, when Jenny yelled. 

“Look out!” She pointed up. I looked up and saw an 8-ball coming down on the bridge. He landed heavily, breaking two of the planks behind me. I struggled to maintain my balance. The bridge swayed dangerously, and more planks broke. I started to run. Michael met me halfway. The bridge broke under my feet. I dropped, reaching out for the edge. The duffel bag was over my chest and the cat cried in surprise as it pushed her more against me. I felt some nails. A strong hand locked onto my wrist and my descent stopped. I looked up to see Michael there, braced against the bridge as the planks had broken under him as well. His feet were on the rope edges. The 8-ball still there but had moved to the other side of the bridge to attack Mitch and Jenny.

“Don’t look down.” Michael warned, and I nodded. I continued to look up at him. He was literally the only thing keeping me from death. Well, maybe that was being dramatic, but it felt like it. I knew he wanted to use his wings and get us back to solid ground. I shook my head at him and he nodded. Pulling me up, I placed my feet on the rope edges as well. I closed my eyes a moment and then looked back at him. 

“Thanks.” He nodded once more. 

“Give me the bag.” I used one hand to remove it. He took it from me and crossed it over his chest. “There are some planks still behind me. Just follow my steps.” 

“Alright.” I tried to sound confident. I wasn’t. The cat in my jacket popped her head up once more since the pressure was gone. Her nails were gone too from my skin. I knew she wasn’t being mean. She was scared. We both were. Michael turned around and we slowly moved our way back over to the planks. Michael stepped onto them and held out a hand for me. I took it and he effortlessly pulled me close. I quickly skipped past him to solid ground. It wasn’t long before he followed me. 

Jenny and Mitch had taken down the 8-ball easily. They were staring at me and then at Michael. We looked at each other before I spoke up. 

“What?” 

“How are you so calm? You almost died!” Jenny blurt out. 

“I... um… I knew I was safe with Michael.” It wasn’t a lie. I looked back at my pretend boyfriend. He looked at me and smiled. “When I felt his hand around my wrist, I knew I wouldn’t fall to my death, or into the water anyway. I don’t want to know if I would die or not from that.”

“Impressive. You two really are an effective team.” Mitch was clearly in awe of that display. I really didn’t know what more to say. I had a little companion again and Michael and I had impressed Mitch and Jenny. Stacy already figured we were together, but how we worked together only made that point. I mentally sighed. I just fueled the rumor mill once more. Thanks 8-ball!

Back at the Camp, I was making a little space for the cat in my care. She was a doll. She was oddly well behaved. Maybe she had been a pet at one point and then she was left on her own. Out there these days, anything was possible. I named her Fayte. Michael liked the name and the cat in general. I was really amazed by that. I would find him in the trailer we shared with her cruising around on his shoulder like she owned the place. I never thought that would happen.


	4. Chapter 4

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> This took a bit to write. It is shorter than I would like but the story said it was done. So... end chapter!

While Michael wouldn’t fully admit he loved the cat, he did. It was clear in some of things he went out of his way to do for her. I found it sweet. Regardless, I had a companion, or we did anyway. No one cared. Michael and I were given a week to ourselves since the ordeal. I didn’t want it. It was too much time. I wanted to keep things running and maybe get out of here sooner rather than later. Then again, staying here was becoming more and more of a smart choice. Now I was torn. 

“You are lost in thought.” Michael said to me. He found me sitting on top of the trailer at night. I looked over at him and nodded. 

“Yes. Should we stay or go? I have no idea. Part of me wants to be out there.”

“The other part says stay here.” He said, sitting next to me. I nodded. Sighing, I leaned forward with my elbows on my knees. This would have been so much earlier if we just didn’t come back here. Or would it have? I really had no idea anymore. Michael’s hand moved to rest over mine. I was a little surprised when it came into my line of sight. I looked up at him. 

“I’ll follow you, whether you stay or go.” I couldn’t understand why he would care. Why did he cling to me like he was missing something in life? I couldn’t exactly ask him that out here. This was a private conversation. We were supposed to be a happy couple. I turned my hand over and linked our fingers together. I nodded, not knowing what else to say. His fingers lightly tightened on mine. He said nothing more as well. Eventually, we went back into the trailer. I did want to talk but I didn’t know how much anyone else was listening. Maybe I should wait until we were off and on our own on a scouting mission to say anything. 

I got my chance two days later to talk. We went out on a mission to look around. It was just the two of us. I requested that. It would make traveling easier since we walked out of town and then Michael could use his wings after that. We took Fayte with us. I wasn’t sure how she would handle the flying, but she was fine. Michael also didn’t fly too high, which I was grateful for. When we landed, I turned to look at Michael. 

“Can we talk?” He looked at me and nodded. This was the Michael I was used to. Not the seemingly human one that had been masquerading around. “Why are you following me? Why aren’t you in Vega and why aren’t you with Alex? He is the Chosen One and the one you need to be protecting.” His expression never changed but I wondered if he was feeling something about what I said. 

“I’ve lost something. I’m attempting to find it.” His answer wasn’t much of one. I tilted my head. 

“What did you lose?” I asked, not sure what he could lose in all this. 

“Faith.” That single world was like a punch I didn’t see coming. Was he serious? It felt like it was harder to breathe. How does an arch angel lose his faith? I had no words. I stepped back, looking at him before I turned away. He said nothing more. What was there to say? He had answered my question. It answered to many more things though. Why he looked lost, why he followed me around, and why he wasn’t in Vega with Alex. Something happened in Vega. I felt it in my bones. I didn’t know what though. 

We explored the area without a word spoken between us. Fayte stayed with us, usually in the hood of my sweatshirt. She was quite content to just remain where she was. Michael gave her some attention when I was looking at a map of the area. Michael’s presence was comforting, even if I was still very much shocked by his words. Why would he want to hang around me though? I wasn’t exactly radiating positivity and faith. Now I was feeling torn with my faith in all this. Did I even have faith to start with? Of course, I knew God would come back. It was just something I believed in. How did I know though? I didn’t, not for sure. No one did. We all just hoped that things be fine in the end and God would come back. 

As we walked back towards the Camp, I had a realization. Faith was what we made it to be. Yes, Michael had seen God and spoken to Him personally. I hadn’t but I still believed he was a real person. Well, a real being anyway. If someone believed in something, then that was enough. It was their truth. Angels didn’t exist in my reality until they came from the heavens to kill us. I stopped moving. Michael walked two more steps and then turned to look at me. I looked back at him. He appeared human. He could act like a human, but he wasn’t ever going to be human. We were as different as night and day. However, in this moment in Michael’s life, he was human in every way but actually being one. He struggled as much with faith and loss as a person did. We were all created in God’s image. Man was created with free will. It was the one thing that was ours. Did the angels also have free will or was that just something special for mankind? Maybe, we weren’t so different after all.  
He stood there, looking at me expectantly. I didn’t realize I was staring until Fayte pawed at my face. I looked at her and smiled. Placing a kiss on her head, she purred. I looked back at Michael and continued to walk. In the end, angel or human, we all had our own demons to face and overcome. When I passed by Michael, I paused to look at him. I held out my hand, palm up for him. He looked at my hand and then back to my face. I just waited. He seemed to be confused about this or perhaps overthinking what the intent was to my hand. I merely waited. It took almost a minute for him to place his hand in my own. While it was warm and firm, I felt something different. There was an understanding he had found in the moments I left him to his thoughts. This could work. 

We returned to the Camp without incident. There was little to report on our mission to explore the assigned area. We had few supplies and fewer encounters with 8-balls. It was a silent trip after our short talk. It wasn’t a bad trip, just a silent one. We had an understanding now, in our own way. We would have to talk about it. I knew that we would find the answer to Michael’s problem, even if it wasn’t my problem to solve. He had come to me for whatever reason and I was willing to help him. After all, it was the right thing to do to help someone. Perhaps that was part of what being human was. Either way, when Michael was ready to move on with his life, I hoped he would have found the answers he was looking for. 

At Camp, we gave our report and disappeared into our trailer. I wanted a shower and so that was my goal. When I was finished, Michael had a shower as well. I sat down on the bed, brushing out my hair. Michael sat down nearby, dressed in only his pants. I looked over at him, curling my legs up on the bed. 

“Something on your mind?” I asked, looking at him. He looked down at the towel in his hand. 

“I don’t know why I thought you would be able to help me. However, I still feel like you can Mickie.” He looked over at me. “I don’t know what I’m looking for beyond losing my faith.” I turned to face him, setting my brush aside. 

“I don’t know if I can help, but I will try.” I smiled, knowing this might be enough to help ease his mind. Maybe. I don’t know. I just had a guess to be honest. Michael nodded.

“Thank you. I appreciate it.” In the end, it wasn’t going to be perfect. Eventually, I was going to ask why he left Vega and what happened. I felt like it would help me understand. It came much sooner than I thought. “You haven’t asked why I left Vega.” 

“I didn’t want to pressure you.” 

“I left because I lost sight of my purpose. I hurt Alex.” His words helped me make sense of the situation. 

“You can’t let that one moment in time affect everything. Learn from it and move on Michael.” The arch angel looked confused by my words. Was it so strange to move on? “Alex loves you Michael. You love him. He will forgive you.” I didn’t know that for sure or what really happened in detail. “You should go talk to him.”

“I cannot return to Vega. I do not believe he is there either.”

“Where is he?”

“I’m not sure.” I frowned at this. Maybe time apart would help them both in some way. 

“You’ll see him again. And when you do, you should tell him.” Michael once again nodded. It seemed to be his only answer when he wasn’t sure what to actually say. I placed my hand on his and squeezed lightly. “Things will be ok Michael.” His hand turned over to hold mine. He said nothing, though the look on his face said enough. Maybe he was beginning to understand.


	5. Chapter 5

Days passed quickly for some reason after that. We did our own things in the Camp, but we also grew closer to each other. We talked more as people instead of just a fake couple. It felt like we were more of a real couple. Maybe that was just me. I couldn’t tell. Michael was hard to read and even harder now that his mind was working on fixing whatever he was thinking about. I was glad I could help him in the end. Well, beginning I suppose since we had been around each other for less than a month now. 

“Mickie.” I looked up at him when he called my name. I was sitting on a branch in a tree relaxing. We had come back from a run a few hours prior. 

“Yeah?” Michael stood at the base of the tree. 

“Do you still intend to leave?” I didn’t expect that question to come from him. We had been fine, and I was actually thinking of staying here. It wasn’t a bad set up after all. I looked away from him. 

“I don’t know to be honest. I want to leave but I am comfortable. I just don’t want to get lazy.” Michael crossed his arms as he looked up at me. I sighed and moved to jump off the branch. I wasn’t high enough to get hurt and I figured he would move. He didn’t. Instead, Michael caught me and set me down. “Thanks.”

“If you are conflicted, don’t go.” He made it seem so simple. Was it though? I wanted it to be that easy. 

“Maybe.” I said, not wanting to commit to anything. As I considered what I was going to say next, a commotion stirred up in the Camp. We headed over to see what was going on. There was two people in the middle of the Camp, one injured. We didn’t know what was going on. Moving forward to see what was going on, I stopped. The pair that was in town right now…

“Michael...”

“I see.” He said, eyes locked on the pair. They were lower angels. We had fought them a few days before. We thought they were dead. Michael and I backed up a little more from the scene. We couldn’t be noticed. Or at least, Michael couldn’t be. As we turned to leave them to the others, one called out. 

“He’s an angel! An arch angel!” Michael and I stopped, glancing at each other. This was going to end up badly. I turned around and sighed. 

“Are you serious right now? You are injured and delirious. How can you be sure?” I asked calmly, not even sounding like I cared about all this. “If he is an arch angel, how come you aren’t dead then? Angels are the enemy.” 

“He tried to kill me!” The man insisted. The leader, looking at us with caution, told us to go back to our trailer for now and wait until they took statements. I shrugged, reaching for Michael’s hand as I passed him. He took it and we calmly walked back to their trailer. Once there, things changed. 

“We need to leave.” Michael nodded, grabbing a bag to pack what we had in the trailer. “They take such a thing very seriously. If you deny it, they will come after me to make you break. It doesn’t matter how much honor and respect we have earned.” I had my own bag, throwing our clothing into it as quickly as I could. 

“Mickie...” I heard from the doorway. I turned, seeing Stacy there. We were clearly in the middle of packing up. Fayte meowed in the silence that lingered. 

“Stacy I can explain.” She shook her head. 

“Don’t. I don’t want to hear it. Just get out of here. They haven’t figured out what to do yet. I’m supposed to tell you that you will be separated do you can’t work on your story.” Stacy sighed, and I walked closer to her. 

“I would say I’m sorry…”

“But you aren’t. Just finish and go. Get out of here and don’t come back. You know they won’t let you.” She looked more upset than anything. I really did like her. She shoved a pair of keys at me and walked away.

“We need to hurry.” Fayte jumped up onto my shoulder and settled into the hood on my sweatshirt. The three of us were racing away soon after. I shoved the bags into the backseat with the one Michael had. Fayte followed the bags and walked around while we got in the car. I started the car and then we were noticed. I threw the car into reverse and slammed on the gas. We zipped backwards, and I turned the wheel. Throwing the car into drive, we took off. It was hard that were chased out of were we lived but it happened more than once while I was there for years. 

“Now what?” Michael asked after a bit of driving. No one followed us. I don’t know why. They had cars. I smiled.

“Stacy helped us. She gave us the keys and I would bet she stopped the other cars from working, even if it was briefly.” I shook my head. “I hope she is ok.” I would like to check on her, but it wouldn’t happen. we couldn’t go back to my apartment, or even near that building, and my other home was… too painful. 

“We can check on her.” I wasn’t expecting that to come from him. I nodded. Maybe we should. Not today. But at night perhaps we could sneak back in. 

“Thanks.” We kept driving until I felt we were far enough. There were some old buildings in the area and I wondered if we could use one as a place to live. At least for now. I didn’t really want to stay here. Michael got out of the car once I hide it in the building. Fayte climbed up onto my shoulder as I got out of the car. It hadn’t been touched for years it looked like. We explored the area carefully. There was no one even here. No 8-balls. No animals. No birds. There were thick layers of dust everywhere. The building was in good condition at least. 

“Thoughts?” I said, looking to Michael as we stood on the catwalk. He looked at me before he responded. 

“It is livable. We could make this work if this is where you want to stop.” I nodded, not sure if that was a promising idea. It was the only idea we had at this point. 

“We can stay here for now. I don’t know if we should settle here or not. Can we make this safe?” It was just the two of us. Well, three. Fayte purred loudly as she nuzzled my head and nipped at my ear. I lifted a hand to pet her. She was in heaven. 

“We can make it work.” Michael said. His tone and body language reassured me that this was going to work. I nodded once more. 

“Ok. Let’s do this.” I felt like this was going to work. Michael and I set about getting things out of the car and setting up the office as our room. It didn’t even both me that there was one room we would be using. Michael took the chance to see if he could find something to work as a bed. I covered the car with a sheet and used the hood as a table to set things out. 

By the end of the day, Michael had returned to my old bunker and salvaged what he could. It took him half the time it would take us to go back in the car. I didn’t mind and a lot of things there were still useful. The bed was there, some folding chairs and a small table. The food that was there, that wasn’t rotten, was brought over as well. I was glad Michael went back without me. I wasn’t sure I wanted to go there in the end. 

I couldn’t sleep that night. I wasn’t sure what was going to happen when Michael got back from visiting the Camp. I was nervous and scared for Stacy. Would she be ok? Would she have been killed for helping us? We did just leave her there. My mind was racing with the possibilities of all that could have happened. When I heard Michael land outside, I looked at the door. My heart was racing as I waited. The door slowly moved open…


	6. Chapter 6

I was not expecting to see Stacy there with Michael walking behind her. A few seconds later Mitch followed. I stood and walked a few steps forward, not at all understanding what I was seeing or why Michael would bring them to this place. Stacy I could understand but Mitch?

“What’s going on?” I asked, looking at Michael. 

“Stacy was going to be judged for helping us escape. Mitch…” Michael looked over at the man in question. 

“It wasn’t right what they did to you both. Angels are our enemy, but not all of them. I heard about what was going on in Vega. I don’t know why you are here Michael, but I knew who you were when we met.” I walked forward to stand next to Michael. 

“Thank you, Mitch. I appreciate you not saying anything. Stacy, why did you help and how did you help so fast?” I asked, not sure what took place in the short length of time Michael and I had been ordered into isolation. 

“As soon as I heard about it, I asked Mitch to help me. We had to do something. He gave me the tools to cut the lines on the cars. I stole the keys to the car I gave you. I couldn’t let them do anything to you. Both of you have done nothing but help us. I know Michael is an angel now but, you never did anything to say you were evil like the others have been.” Stacy said, looking from me to Michael. Michael nodded to both of them, appreciating the help perhaps.

“Thanks. I can never repay you both for your kindness.” I was very touched by this. I wasn’t sure what we were going to do now but it was nice to at least be safe for now. I hugged Stacy tightly. She returned the hug. Mitch put a hand on my shoulder with a small smile. 

“We are with you or we can leave.” 

“No, no. Please stay. This place is big enough until we find something else.” I said, letting Stacy go. “We have some supplies that we took with us. We can find other things. We never came out this far in this direction. I’m sure we will find something.” I was positive about this. Michael and I would have had to do this anyway for ourselves. Fayte popped up from the hood of my sweatshirt, meowing softly. I actually forgot she was there. I smiled and reached a hand behind her, which caused her to purr loudly. 

“Alright.” Mitch said, nodding to me. In the end, we would make this work. For now, we had to make another place for them to sleep that was safe and secured. 

In the morning, Stacy and I sorted everything that came out of the trailer Michael and I had stayed in. We took more than I thought actually. We had towels, clothing, food, bedding, and miscellaneous things that got caught in the rush. I mean, seriously, who takes plates and silverware? It worked out to be needed anyway, but that wasn’t the point. We laid everything out that we had. The warehouse had some containers that we put the food in for now. We could figure something out later. Clothing we tucked into a filing cabinet that would work as a dresser for now.

“What should we do with the random things?” Stacy asked. I sighed. 

“I guess just put them in whatever we can. We need to see what we have.” I responded, reaching for a crate to put some things in. Whatever the supplies we had, we could find more. We couldn’t trade with The Camp anymore and I didn’t think they came out this far. At least, I hoped not. We did cover our tracks pretty well and Michael flew there. 

“Alright. We should make a list of what we need as well.” Stacy commented, helping me put things into crates. There was going to be an extensive list. I wondered how the men were doing on their own little adventure to find supplies. I didn’t know how long they would take or how far they went. Once all the crates were filled, Stacy and I set up a little kitchen area against one of the walls. It had a built-in table, so we figured this would be the best place for it.

A few hours later, Michael and Mitch came back. There were two bags full of stuff. It looked like they grabbed anything they could. 

“Did you grab everything in sight?” I teased. Michael, much to my surprise, responded in kind. 

“We were unable to grab the kitchen sink.” I looked at him and smiled. Maybe he was a little more human than we thought. He looked back at me with an amused look before he turned away to go through the bag Mitch had set down. Once all that was laid out and ordered, we had a lot more than I thought we would. I don’t know where they went. Wherever it was, it was good place. Stacy and Mitch took it upon themselves to cook something for lunch while Michael and I worked on the items brought. I was glad to have the extra friends around however I was worried about what the future had now. 

After lunch, I was sitting on the roof, looking around at the horizon. We were in the middle of a small industry area. The amount of old buildings around us was helpful to keep us hidden. The building we picked was in the back of the town from the direction we came from originally. We were protected for the most part. I wondered if they had searched the buildings nearby or left the area. It didn’t really matter in the end I supposed. I looked over the side of the building, watching Mitch and Michael getting things out of the car. I thought they had only brought bags of things. It looked like there was more. 

Mitch was pulling piles of bedding and pillows of the car’s backseat, while Michael was removing a few boxes of other things from the trunk. If this was to be our home, we would need to act like it I guessed. Thinking about the building I was sitting on, we could easily build some false walls or barriers to give privacy. I leaned back and laid on the roof, letting my legs dangle over the side of the building’s roof. I draped an arm over my eyes. What was our life becoming?

I wasn’t sure how long I was there. I was pretty sure I fell asleep. A sound to my left brought me back to the moment. I blinked against the sun and looked over. Michael was standing there. His wings were exposed. As he walked forward, he extended a wing to block the sun from me. My eyes adjusted to the sudden shade. 

“Finished with the car?” I asked, looking up at him. He crouched next to me. 

“Yes. We had more than just the bags we brought with us. Are you well?”

“Yeah. I was just thinking, and I saw you both at the car.” I moved to sit up and he helped me. He also kept his wing above me for shade. When I sat up, I felt a little light-headed and nausea. I closed my eyes and I felt his hand come to my shoulder a moment later. 

“Are you sure you are ok? You have been laying here for some time.” He said, concern in his voice. Now I wasn’t sure. I didn’t think it was that hot when I was laying here. Michael didn’t wait for my response and picked me up. I expected him to drop off the roof, but he walked down using the stairs. The cooler temperature in the building was a welcome relief. Michael headed down the stairs and I was placed on a couch. I opened my eyes to look at Michael and found Stacy kneeling in front of me.

“Are you ok? You are very flush.”

“I fell asleep on the roof.” Stacy frowned at me. 

“You need to cool off. You’ll be fine.” She had Mitch get me some water. I had to sip it to make sure I didn’t get sick. I knew I would be alright. I was just a little overheated. It would take a bit of time, but things would be ok. I was already feeling better just being out of the sun. I laid on the couch for a while and drifted off once more. 

When I woke up, it was dark outside. I sat up and stretched. There was a glass of water next to me on the table. I drank the water and sighed. That water was refreshing. I took the glass with me as I got up. I walked from the small side office to the main area. Mitch, Stacy and Michael were sitting there at the table, a map on the table. There was food slow cooking on the make-shift stove nearby. No one noticed me at first. I just took in the moment. It looked like they were planning something. I wasn’t sure what they were planning though. This place was a decent place to stay after all. I walked over to refill the water, which catch their attention. 

“Are you feeling better?” Michael asked, looking at me. 

“Yeah I am. Thanks. Sorry to have worried you. I really didn’t mean to fall asleep on the roof.”

“We know. It’s ok.” Stacy said with a smile. “Dinner will be ready soon.” I nodded, drinking more water. I really did need to watch where I would fall asleep in the future. I didn’t want that to happen again. It was miserable the first time. For now, I would just stay inside and avoid sitting on the roof, so I wouldn’t be tempted to sit down and relax like I had. 

“What are you working on?”

“We were just looking at the map. We think this is the area we are in.” Mitch said, pointing out the area that was circled. “The Camp was in this area originally and you know they don’t move often.” This was very true. It might be to our benefit. They wouldn’t think we would stay in one place. More than likely, they thought we took off and haven’t looked back.

“What happened when you went back to The Camp Michael?” I asked, curious.

“Stacy and Mitch were already planning to leave when I arrived. They figured it was Stacy who helped you and Mitch said he didn’t want to stay there if they were going to judge Stacy.” Mitch and Stacy nodded, saying nothing. “They started a car, put a brick on the gas, and we left the other way. The others assumed they were leaving and chased after the car, letting us leave.”

“That was good luck then. I’m glad you are here.” I said, looking at them. Stacy smiled, and Mitch just nodded. “We will make this work, but I think we should have a stash just in case we need to leave quickly. I hate to say it, but was there a basement anywhere when you guys were out looking?”

“We didn’t see one. I can go out in the morning and look again. Just to keep our options open.” Mitch suggested. It was good to have a backup plan.


End file.
